


Familiar

by bjfic_archivist



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Canon, Drama, Unsafe Sex, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-01-23
Updated: 2005-01-23
Packaged: 2018-12-29 02:08:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12072375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bjfic_archivist/pseuds/bjfic_archivist
Summary: Brian is a vampire in an AU where vampires are legal citizens. Justin must interrogate him about a murder.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from IrishCaelan, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Brian_Justin_Fanfiction_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in September 2017. I posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [The Brian/Justin Fanfiction Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/bjfic/profile).

This is an homage (read: rip-off) of sorts to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. Many of the ideas about the supernatural that are used here originated in her and were adapted for use in this story. I make no claims to them.

* * *

“Taylor!” Sergeant Bolzano barked.

“Yes, sir?” Justin answered, tempted to remind his new superior that the Regional Office of Vampiric Affairs (ROVA) was supposed to be run more like a civilian bureaucratic agency than a military or police outfit, but he remained quiet seeing as his boss’s first day on the job was a tense one. An even more compelling reason for Justin to keep his tongue in check was that he only a lowly officer-in-training, which essentially meant he was an intern that could be labeled with an acronym.

Justin Taylor was preparing for a job as a licensed Officer of Vampiric Affairs. He had started this career path by taking pre-training courses on the weekends in his junior and senior years of high school, after being the victim of a gruesome vampire attack that left him with a permanent ridge of white scar tissue like a miniature mountain range across his right collarbone. His attack had been highly publicized because it took place just two months after the United States had amended its constitution to include vampires as legal citizens, as long as feeding occurred only from the willing. Anti-vampire organizations had used Justin’s case to lobby for a repeal of the amendment, but they had no success and quieted down fairly quickly. Justin, on the other hand, was still harboring resentment towards vampires, and he felt duty-bound to work in the institution that had the power to govern vampire affairs, especially as it was in its critical early stages. After graduating from high school the month before, Justin was spending his summer working as an intern in his hometown’s regional office before heading off to the official academy in Washington D.C.

“I need you to brief me on the master vampire of the city, a Mr…” the Sergeant peered into a manila folder he was holding, “…Brian Kinney and his local kiss of vampires. Half of the rest of the team, if you can call four people a team, is off consoling Colonel Schenley’s widow and the other two are investigating his body, so I’ve sunk to relying on the OIT to tell me what the hell is going on here.”

Bolzano, despite being a man with a dark Mediterranean complexion, still sported circles under his eyes as proof of his already weary state. This was not unwarranted though, seeing as the man had taken over the position of the head of Pittsburgh’s ROVA after the previous chief had become a victim of death by vampire bite.

Justin began rattling off facts, “Brian Kinney. Relatively young vampire, between 100 and 200 years old, but quite powerful for his age. Of Irish origin: the Ire bloodline. The abilities of this vampire lineage lie along sexual planes. His vampiric powers include hyper-attraction, seduction, and heightened pleasure for both him and anyone subject to his bite or sexual attentions. It is probably because of these powers that he has chosen to become the proprietor of numerous clubs, dance and strip, and other sundry sex-centered businesses across Pittsburgh, many of which specialize in gay male clientele…”

“Wait one second there, Taylor. What do you mean by heightened pleasure?”

“Sir, I mean that his bite alone is orgasmic, and his sexual prowess is beyond orgasmic. Or, so I’ve heard. That’s the word among the vampire junkies on the street.” Justin suddenly found himself getting a little embarrassed and flustered that he may have inadvertently implied that he had experienced the Master of the City’s attentions, so he quickly added, “I don’t know personally. I mean, I’ve never even met the guy.”

“Okay, Taylor. Continue.”

“Apparently he doesn’t have much interest in old vampire politics. He is much more concerned with playing by human rules. He has appeared to be fully cooperative in everything ROVA’s ever wanted, and apparently he has been very strict in enforcing our laws amongst his kiss, also.”

“So, are you telling me that a member of Kinney’s kiss did not murder Schenley?”

“I couldn’t say. He could have been toying with us this whole time, just pretending to be playing nice. Or he could have lost control of a vamp. Both of which could be very dangerous situations. Or, I suppose it could be someone else entirely, but from what I understand of vampire politics, vampires rarely travel into each others’ territories. If you truly want my opinion, I think it is door number one, and the dead bastard has just been acting like a good little citizen this whole time.”

Bolzano stroked his stubbly chin at Justin’s supposition. After a moment’s pause, he said, “Well, my little OIT, you’re going to test that hypothesis. I want you to go down to his office, which, according to this file, is located in the club Carnal Knowledge, on 17th Street off of Liberty Ave. Have a friendly chat with him and keep it low key. Just probe around a little; no heroics, okay? You could bring a friend if you want, make it seem like a casual night out. That’s all. I just want you to chitchat with him and see if your inclinations stick.”

Justin looked incredulous. He couldn’t believe this man, who hadn’t even been in charge a whole day, was asking him to do this crazy undercover scheme. He wondered if his new boss knew that Carnal Knowledge was an all-male strip club, or if he even cared that, if Justin weren’t gay, that could have bothered him. It was way out of his job description, and Justin was about to harshly remind Bolzano of that fact, when he realized that he’d spend the last few weeks complaining to his friends that he was just a glorified office boy. This was finally his chance to do something, to be on the in, to _affect_ vampires. Justin opened his mouth and all that came out was, “Yes, sir.”

“Good OIT,” the sergeant said to Justin like he was a dog, and then turned on his heel and walked down the hallway towards Schenley’s former office. He paused for a moment and called back, “And I’ll want a full report on your findings tomorrow morning, Taylor.”


	2. Chapter 3

Justin and Daphne stood next to the curb, looking intimidated by a glowing blue neon tube that curled around itself to spell out Carnal Knowledge.

“Tell me again, why are we here?” Daphne asked.

“To get info on Brian Kinney.”

“You are telling me that we are going to a strip club to interrogate the Master Vampire of the City?”

“Well, not interrogate, so much as ask and act innocent.”

“You know, Justin, if you wanted to see guys strip, you could’ve just said that. You didn’t need to make up this whole vampire thing.”

Justin gave Daphne a withering look. “Let’s just go in already.”

They entered the club, got their hands stamped by a tall, lithe looking man dressed in jeans and a brown leather bomber jacket to signify that they were not old enough to buy drinks. The man raised his eyebrows slightly at Daphne, but let her pass just the same. The teenagers, squinting in the dark, made their way through the chain links that acted as the curtain between the entry area and the main room. As soon as they brushed past the chains, both of their eyes fixated on the well-lit stage where a man in a thong was crawling up and down the stage on his hands and knees, taking bills from people with his mouth. The man’s motions were oddly graceful in a way that a human making the same motions could never be. In fact, the well-built, well-endowed brunette looked quite similar to a large cat stalking its prey as he paced the stage.

“Must be a lycanthrope,” whispered Justin towards Daphne, “some kind of werecat.” Daphne just nodded wide eyed. She realized why the bouncer had given her a strange look: she was the only female in the room. Suddenly Justin poked her sharply in the rib cage. “There he is. I recognize him from all the media he’s done promoting vampires.”

Daphne’s gaze followed Justin’s finger to a shaded figure seated near the far end of the bar, watching the stage closely. Brian Kinney was trim and tall, dressed in a slim fitting black t-shirt and dark denim jeans. His dark hair was brushed sexily towards his eyes, and his complexion was surprisingly tan for a vampire. Justin gave a little gasp as Brian shifted slightly and his face became visible.

“God, he’s beautiful,” Daphne murmured.

Justin couldn’t take his eyes off the striking line of Brian’s jawbone and the attractive pout of his lips. He made his way towards the bar, stopped a few yards away from Brian, and got the bartender’s attention to order a water. With calculating slowness, Brian turned his head to watch the slight, blond boy shell out five dollars for a few measly ounces of water.

“You came all the way to Carnal Knowledge and all you indulge in is a little water?” Brian’s voice flowed into Justin’s ears like honey and made his spine shiver. Justin turned to see the vampire’s cocked eyebrow challenging him. “You can have something harder. I won’t tell if you won’t tell.”

Justin’s skin was tingling as if Brian had done more than say a few simple sentences. He composed himself, “That’s all right, but thanks for offering.”

“What do you think?” Brian said, gesturing to the stripper, who was actually dancing now, his muscles still gliding in a beautifully feline manner.

“He’s good, but not my type.”

“You’re not into lycanthropes?”

Justin shrugged noncommittally.

“He’s my _pomme de sang_.”

“Huh?”

“My apple of blood. He’s my favorite little snack.”

“He doesn’t look so little to me.”

“If he’s not your type, what is?” Brian leaned over close to Justin, close enough that Justin could feel his warm breath on his neck. Justin knew that vampires didn’t have to breathe, but they could, especially if they had fed recently.

“I like my men a little… leaner… and edgier. With a mysterious side and hazel eyes.”

Brian regarded the smaller man very carefully for a moment, and eventually a grin broke out across his face. He laughed softly, quickly. “Like me?”

Justin shot his perfect smile right back at Brian. “I don’t know. Maybe you’ll have to show me your mysterious side first.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Tell me which of your vamps sucked a man dry last night.”

Although his face didn’t change expression at all, Justin saw a glint of confusion in the master vampire’s eyes.

“I can assure you no member of my kiss would kill a human.” Brian’s voice was colder now, apparently accusing his minions of murder put a damper on flirting. “It is strictly forbidden, and, by the blood oaths they’ve taken, they must obey my direct orders. I would not want my kiss to do anything to jeopardize the positive image for vampires I have worked so hard to build.”

There was something in the seriousness of his tone that made Justin inclined to believe him. But he had no more time to consider this at that moment, as a commotion broke out when a monstrously large man, who had been sitting in the front row, overturned his table, pulled out a large handgun, and grabbed the stripper harshly, pulling him down off the stage and almost tucking him under his arm. Brian stood up quick as a flash, looking concerned. Justin had felt the movement and rush of air next to him, but his eyes never had a chance to catch up and process it. Surprisingly, Brian made no further advancement towards the hulking man, who was waving the gun furiously and yelling about his intentions to claim the stripper as a prize and shoot anyone who stood in his way. Brian’s pomme de sang was struggling furiously against his captor, and knowing the strength of a lycanthrope, Justin knew that the colossus had to be something more than human also. Suddenly, Justin discerned the bouncer, the man from the front door in his leather jacket, creeping slowly, silently, unnoticed, along the back wall toward the cause of the chaos. No one else seemed to be aware of his presence, except, Justin noted, Brian, which was probably why he hadn’t jumped to the rescue of his favorite food.

The bouncer slinked into position with the stealth of a seasoned predator, and Justin realized that he was most likely also a lycanthrope of some sort. He sprung upon the giant in a manner that usually required haunches. The kidnapper, caught by surprise, was pushed to ground with great force, and the bouncer’s impact caused his hand to jerk and the gun to fire errantly in same direction that Daphne, Justin, and Brian were standing. Before he could even react at all, Justin felt the brush of Brian’s quicker-than-the-eye movement again, as the vampire dove in front of the two humans, acting like an effective shield when the bullet lodged in his left shoulder.

All panic seemed to break out in this moment. Over the din of scrambling men, Justin could make out a struggle going on between the two lycanthropes and the would-be captor. He hurled himself in the direction of the fight, squeezing through the frenzy, to find himself facing the massive hand as it dropped the gun on the floor due to some blow the distant body took. Justin kicked it away from the hand’s reach, and then proceeded to stomp as hard as he could on the hand. He heard the crack of bones breaking and a roar from the attached mouth. Justin turned his attention to the massive ribcage next, eliciting a few more screams until the body went limp and Justin realized the bouncer had finally succeeded in snapping the neck that was as thick as tree truck.

With the immediate threat gone, Justin’s thoughts sprinted back to the injured Brian, and his legs followed. Propped up against the front of the bar, tucked in between stools, Brian gave him a feeble smile when Justin squatted in front of him. “Glad to see you didn’t forget about little old me.”

“Are you okay?” Justin’s hand subconsciously reached out towards the seeping wound, but he pulled it back before it made contact.

“Yeah, vampires can survive a bullet would, it just hurts like a motherfucker. Help me up; I need to check on the state of my club and my _pomme_.” He held out his right arm to Justin, who clasped the cooling appendage with both of his own warm hands. The second they touched, though, the room went reeling, and Justin ended up down instead of Brian up. What felt like a jolt of electricity ran through both men. Brian’s hand finally wrenched its way out from Justin’s grip, and the current stopped. Daphne’s voice shook the men into awareness a few moments later.

“What the fuck was that?” all three of them asked

“Brian, look at your shoulder!” Daphne exclaimed. The wound was mending itself at a visible pace. When the bullet popped out, pushed by the muscle regrowth, and rolled across the floor, all six eyes followed it, stunned. The rest of the club was empty now, except for three figures gingerly getting to their feet across the club, one massive dead body, and a large amount of broken furniture and glass. The three figures, the bouncer, the stripper, and a third new man, made their way over to the Brian gingerly.

“Hey, Bri,” the unfamiliar one said.

Leaning over to peer closely at Brian’s shoulder where the skin was rapidly smoothing over, the stripper said, confused, “Did you get shot?”

Brian leaned his head back against the bar, dramatically. “Yeah, Em. I got shot.”

It was the bouncer’s turn to inspect the quickly disappearing would. “What’s with the presto-change-o healing?”

“I dunno. It happened when I touched him.” Brian gestured towards Justin, who was less quick to return to a coherent state. Brian scooted out so he could use the bar to pull himself up.

“Who the hell is that anyway?" the bouncer said, "He helped distract the big guy long enough that I could break his neck.”

Daphne spoke up, “His name is Justin Taylor. And I’m Daphne Chanders. I don’t believe any of us have been formally introduced, but since I think some life-saving has occurred here, getting to know each other might be a wise idea.”

“I’m Emmett Honeycutt,” the wereleopard stripper said. “Nice to meet ya.”

“Ben Bruckner,” said the bouncer, giving a smile. “I’m Brian’s security.”

The mystery man said, “Ted Schmidt, Brian’s accountant and manager of Carnal Knowledge.”

After the introductions, Daphne reached down, hooked Justin underneath the armpits, and pulled him to his feet, shakily. “Like I said, this is Justin Taylor. We came here tonight to ask Brian some questions about a man who was found last night murdered by a vampire, but I think we now believe that it wasn’t any of Brian’s kiss. So, who could it have been then? And while I’m asking questions, what the fuck was that whole thing about?”


	3. Familiar

Justin shook the fog from his brain as the other four men all indicated with shrugs and blank looks that they didn’t know what the attempted kidnapping had been about either. The blond turned to Brian and accused, “What did you do to us, to me?”

“Hey! You touched me, remember?”

“Whatever. What happened?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Did you have metaphysical powers before tonight?”

“I don’t voluntarily do anything supernatural, if that’s what you mean.”

Ted interjected and pulled Brian aside. “Bri,” he said. “I’ve been doing a little research recently. You know how you wanted to investigate ways to secure your power base? Anyway, I came across several accounts of vampires who have found that they have “familiars.” A master vampire’s familiar is someone to whom he has a strong physical, emotional, and metaphysical reaction, kind of like human soulmates. Contact, usually corporeal, between the familiar and his vampire strengthens both of them, physically and magically. This often includes powers such as healing abilities.”

Brian regarded Ted carefully. “Are you telling me this kid is my soulmate?”

“Well, I can’t say for sure. But he could well be. I think you should touch again and see what happens.”

Brian, giving Ted all the nonverbal attitude he could, returned to the rest of the party, where Justin and Daphne were chatting animatedly with Emmett and Ben. “Hey, kid!”

Justin whirled around and Brian caught him offguard by kissing him deeply while the others stared. The current of energy flowed between them again, less intense this time. It felt like a thin stream of each man intertwined with a stream from the other and coursed through the bodies of both, leaving no part untouched. Justin was amazed to find himself immediately begin to harden, just from the kiss. When Brian pulled away the intertwined streams pulled tight, resisting the stretch, like a rubber band.

Justin felt a little drunk when Brian removed his lips, and, although he would never admit it, Brian was also reeling slightly.

“What is up with that?” Justin slurred out.

“Umm, Theodore?” Brian deflected the question.

Ted stepped forward, took Justin’s elbow, and steered him towards a bar stool. The others gathered around in a little semicircle. “Well, my guess as to what is happening is this: master vampires have the potential to have a “familiar” and it looks like Brian just found his.”

Justin just stared blankly as Ted explained, “… and vampire/familiar couples have been some of the most powerful magical beings throughout history. If contact is sustained, and I’ve never heard of a case where it hasn’t, a technically-human familiar lives as long as his vampire half, potentially forever. The familiar also gains many benefits of being slightly more than human, like improved strength and agility almost to the level of a lycanthrope.”

Justin put his head in his hands and ran his fingers through his hair. “And what if I don’t want to be more than human?”

The group remained silent to that question for an awkwardly long moment. Then, Ben spoke up, resting his hand on Justin’s shoulder, “Hey, pal. It’s not that bad. Me being a werewolf and Emmett being a wereleopard is what saved our lives tonight.”

Ted piped in, “Yeah! Being a wererat hasn’t affected my life negatively at all. Well, okay, maybe there’s the social stigmas against lycanthropes, but that’s just because humans don’t understand us and fear us trying to convert them. But, the benefits are worth it.”

“And it’s not like you can change who you are anyway, so you might as well accept it,” Emmett added.

Brian said, “Boys, maybe you should give Justin a little while to process and adjust. How about you mosey on home for the night?”

The dutiful employees did as they were told, leaving Daphne, Brian, and Justin sitting on barstools alone in the club.

“Daph, why don’t you head out too? I think Brian and I have some shit to talk over.”

“But…” Daphne tried to protest, but the look in Justin’s eyes made her stop. She gathered her coat and headed out. “How will you get back if I take the car?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Brian said, so Daphne left too.

“So…” Justin's comment lead nowhere.

“So…?”

Justin grabbed Brian’s forearm and the little shocks tingled over their bodies. “You feel it too, right?”

Brian softly responded, “Yeah, I feel it.”

And before either of them realized it, they were passionately kissing and groping each other. After he had lost his shirt and Brian was working on the belt buckle, Justin fought his way back to his senses.

“Hey, Ted made it seem like we had to have a connection beyond physical in order for the whole familiar thing to work. But I don’t even know you, so how can I possibly have the emotions required for it?”

Brian gave a short knowing laugh. “Your emotions don’t follow rationale like that, Justin.”

There was a charged pause before Brian leaned his forehead against Justin’s and delicately said, “Our feelings don’t give a fuck about anything, obviously.”

Justin smiled and then shifted the angle of his head to lightly kiss Brian. The vampire took Justin’s hands in his own and led him to stand. Brian finished undoing his belt and Justin stepped out of his pants and underwear, making Brian smile at what he saw. Justin then went to work relieving Brian of his remaining clothes. Brian picked Justin up by grabbing him just below his ass cheeks and placed the smaller man on his lap. Justin was positioned facing Brian, straddling him, as Brian’s back leaned against the edge of the bar.

Justin paused in the middle of shifting himself into position for Brian to enter him. “Wait. What about a condom?”

“Vampires don’t carry diseases, stupid.” Brian teased gently, nuzzling against the underside of Justin’s jawbone. Just a few hours before, Justin would never have guessed that his night would have included putting his neck in a position so vulnerable to a vampire bite, but the thought never crossed his mind. The moment Brian filled him, any part of Justin’s brain that wasn’t a pleasure receptor shut down, and, as Brian languidly licked the scar along his collarbone, Justin’s body glided into a rhythm on its own.


	4. Familiar

Justin had never fucked anyone as big as Brian before, much less bareback and, oh yeah, a vampire with super-pleasure powers, so he remained slumped in recovery against Brian’s chest for several minutes after the earth-shattering orgasm.

Brian, lazily drawing patterns on Justin’s back with his fingers, said, “So, tell me about this murder that you investigating.”

“My former boss, the head of ROVA, was found yesterday morning in an alley drained of blood through a vampire bite.”

“You work at ROVA?”

Justin slowly got off of Brian’s lap and started dressing. “I’m still in training.”

After a pause Brian said, “Schenley was decent guy. He did a lot to help vampires’ transition into legality. No vampire with half a brain would want to kill him. And, like I said, my kiss was definitely not involved. So, unless another vampire has encroached on my territory, and that vampire would have to be very powerful to do that without me noticing, this all sounds very suspicious.”

“Are you saying someone just made it look like a vampire did it?” Justin looked over at the comfortably reclining nude.

“I could tell you if I could see the body.”

“Then get dressed. Quickly. We have to do it tonight because he’s going to be cremated tomorrow, as is customary with vampire victims.”

“I didn’t know the morgue was open visitors this late at night.”

“It’s not, but we’ll find a way in. This is too important. And we have to do it tonight because I assume you need to be back by daybreak.”

“I wouldn’t want any sun to ruin my complexion.” Brian quipped as he pulled on his t-shirt, ready to go.

“I wouldn’t want that either. You have a car, right? Let’s go.”

Brian held up keys and headed for the door.

 

When they pulled up to the morgue, Justin told Brian the plan he had been working on. “So, I’m going to go in and distract the desk attendant and you will sneak into the back and look for Schenley. We’ll meet back out here in half an hour.”

“Yes, sir!” Brian mocked Justin’s authority with a salute. Then, he gave Justin a wink and a smile as he slid out of the Corvette.

Brian watched Justin disappear behind the front door and waited a few minutes before following stealthily. Brian went around to the side entrance, where bodies were brought in, and slipped quickly and silently inside, past the guard who was lounging in a chair listening to a baseball game on the radio with his eyes closed. Once he was inside the building, Brian could hear Justin’s voice coming from down the hallway as he flirted with the female front desk attendant. Brian turned the opposite way and soon came across a door with one of those weird large metallic handles that signify that a room is refrigerated. He entered and scanned the labels on the bank of silver doors lining one wall, thankful that vampires have good night vision. When he found Schenley, he opened the door and pulled the large drawer with the body out. Pulling back the white sheet completely, Brian’s suspicions were confirmed. He was disgusted that the so-called-professionals that had observed the body had not been able to immediately discern that this was not a vampire attack. First, the two holes of the bite mark were too close together and too large. Real vampire fangs were actually quite small and delicate, almost needle-like. Second, there was pooling of blood within the man’s body, as is typical of a dead body that can no longer circulate it. However, a man who had been drained of blood by a vampire would have little blood left to collect. Brian guessed that whoever had killed Schenley had not thought to drain it of blood before dumping it in the alley Justin had said he had been found in. Brian was completely sure that no vampire had killed the sergeant, so he stashed the body away again, slipped past the guard, who hadn’t moved, and returned to the car. Justin joined him a few minutes later.

“I feel so icky,” the blond announced.

“You? I was in a room with a bunch of dead bodies!”

“I had to flirt with a _girl_! Besides, you’re a vampire.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Brian mocked offense. He joked, “All right, you win. Girls are grosser than dead bodies.”

“So, what’d you learn?”

“It definitely wasn’t a vampire.” Brian briefed Justin on his observations.

“Well, that’s definitely enough to exonerate you. I’ll report to my new supervisor first thing in the morning, and he can stop the cremation and have an autopsy performed to prove what you say.”

“You should also get him to force ROVA to give the fucking cops a little training so that they can at least tell a genuine vampire bite from a fucking awl stabbing.” Brian got a little worked up, so Justin put his hand on the other man’s knee. His touch was calming and the men sat for a moment in quiet.

“I guess you should get back to your place soon.” Justin said, noticing the clock.

“Yeah… Where should I drop you off?”

Justin gave directions back to his apartment and Brian drove him there. When they pulled up in front of the building, Justin seemed reluctant to get out.

“Hey, you should come by Carnal Knowledge again tomorrow after sunset. I’ll try to pull some literature on this whole familiar thing and we can figure it out together, okay?”

Justin looked relieved that he would be seeing the vampire again. “Sure.”

“Good luck on the whole Schenley thing.”

“Thanks.”

After an awkward pause, Justin leaned over and kissed Brian passionately before sliding out of the car and shutting the door. He ambled into his apartment with a huge grin on his face and tried to get a few hours of sleep before reporting back to the office with his exciting findings.


	5. Familiar

At precisely nine the next morning, Justin reported to Sergeant Bolzano’s office to tell him the night’s conclusions.

“Sir, I have big news regarding the Schenley case.”

Bolzano looked away from the computer screen. “Well, what is it Taylor?”

“Schenley was not murdered by a vampire. You have to call the morgue right away and prevent them from destroying the evidence.”

“What makes you believe that it wasn’t a vampire?”

Justin briefed him on Brian’s discoveries without mentioning any of the night's events.

“How did you find this out? Did you see the body? I only told you to go talk to Brian fucking Kinney!”

“Well…” Justin was thrown by the sergeant’s reaction and didn’t want to aggravate his anger. “I did. And I did what you said, and, after talking to him, I am sure that none of his vamps did it. Brian ended up wanting to help, so we went over to the morgue and had a peek at Schenley’s body. Everything he said makes sense, so I really don’t see how it could have been a vampire. Will you please call the morgue and make sure they don’t cremate the body?”

Bolzano got up from his desk and walked over to shut the door. “Taylor,” he said, as he stood very close to Justin, “Kinney is responsible for this and we will take him down.”

“I’m sure he’s not. He and Schenley got along, and their relationship improved the image of both vampires and Pittsburgh’s ROVA. He had no motive for murdering a human.”

Bolzano got tenser with Justin’s every word of protest. “But he’s a vampire! They don’t need motives for murdering; they’re just evil.”

“I used to think that too, but they’re really not. Their psyches are just the same as humans’. It’s only their bodies that are different.”

“Taylor, why are you fighting me on this? I know what that vampire did to you three years ago. Don’t you want revenge?”

“I want revenge on him, sure. But just because he was a vampire, doesn’t mean that I want revenge on all vampires. He could have been human and still hurt me.”

Bolzano continued to simmer, but didn’t say anything, so Justin continued, “Why did they give you this job if you hate vampires so much?”

“I was the only one who wanted it who could start at such sort notice.”

“It’s pretty obvious that you didn’t want the job to help vampires acclimate to life as citizens, so why the hell did you want it?”

“Schenley was too soft on vampires, too fond of them. They need tougher legislation governing their actions. Vampires can’t be allowed to roam freely within our society!”

“That’s what being a citizen means!” Their discussion had officially escalated to a shouting match.

“And I need to see that that privilege is taken away from them!”

Justin took a step back. His brain was churning like crazy. In a quiet voice that was eerie after the yelling, Justin said, “You killed Schenley.”

A flicker in Bolzano’s eyes made Justin sure this was the truth. “What do you have against vampires, Bolzano?”

“They killed my wife, and now my daughter wants to marry one.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you take it out on Brian. You can’t sully the image of vampires everywhere just because of one incident.”

“Why are you defending Kinney? What are you, in love with him or something?”

“Maybe I am, but it doesn’t matter. I know that he’s not evil, regardless of my feelings: he saved my life. Brian doesn’t deserve what you are trying to pin on him.”

“He saved your life?” Bolzano scoffed.

“Last night at the club, this guy tried to kidnap a dancer and his gun went off. Brian leapt in front of the bullet to keep it from hitting me.”

The sergeant got very quiet. “What happened to the kidnapper?”

“He’s dead now.”

Bolzano looked shocked, which made Justin suspicious.

“What? Did you know him?” After a silent pause, “Oh my god, you sent him there, you sick fuck. Let me out of here.”

Justin moved towards the door, but Bolzano menacingly stepped in front of it. “Stop, Taylor. No one else is going to find out what you know.” He made a lunge towards the smaller man, but Justin sidestepped him.

“Huh?” Bolzano was confused that Justin had evaded his move, but he made another attempt to hit him. Before he made contact, Justin returned with a blow of his own, causing his boss to go flying into the wall. Knocked unconscious, Bolzano slid down, revealing a large dent in the drywall, and crumbling into a heap at the bottom.

“Well, I guess there are benefits to being more than human,” Justin said, as he walked over to the phone to call the authorities.


	6. Familiar

Justin sauntered into Carnal Knowledge like he was a regular. He nodded hello at Ben without stopping, made his way through the chains, noted that Emmett was back on stage, and walked over to the bar. Sneaking up behind the dark-haired man, he slid his arms around the trim waist, buried his face in the soft hair at the nape of his neck, and whispered, “Don’t move, or I’ll bite.”

Brian turned around within the embrace and tilted his head to one side, exposing the line of his neck. “Go ahead.”

Justin licked the contour, then planted his mouth against the flesh. He teased a little, applying pressure with his teeth. Brian let a moan escape from his throat, then he said, “I’m glad you made it. I wasn’t sure if you would decide that this familiar shit wasn’t for you, after all.”

“Well, I can see now that it has its benefits.” Justin kissed along Brian’s jawbone now.

“Like?”

“Like super-strength and shit.”

“That’s all?”

“And I can move really fast, too. I mean, not as fast as you, but still…”

“There’s nothing else?” Brian pulled the rambling man away from his neck and placed him on the adjacent stool.

Coyly, Justin smiled and leaned in to sweetly kiss Brian’s mouth.


End file.
